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Dave Henderson outdoors: Local youth turkey contest next month

Dave Henderson, Special to The Press & Sun-Bulletin
Published 11:06 a.m. ET March 21, 2018

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Binghamton University's Rebecca Carmody receives a pass from Imani Watkins and hits a baseline jumper in the first half of the Bearcats' 70-64 loss to visiting Yale on Tuesday.
Rob Centorani / staff video

The Southern Tier Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will once again hold its Dale Snyder Memorial Youth Hunt Turkey Contest, April 21-22.

Headquarters will again be the Home Central store at 199 Stage Road, Vestal, with scoring each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There is no entry fee, and pre-registration begins April 1 at Home Central. Contest is open to all licensed hunters 12-15 years of age, but only hunters who pre-registered are eligible for the Grand Prize, an ALPS Grand Slam Turkey Vest.

Prizes will be awarded to top three scores in each of the four age groups. Birds will be scored according to the NWTF scoring system by members of the Southern Tier chapter.

For information contact Paul Litynski at 607-754-5058 or Andy Munson at 607-722-0572.

Heath tops flat shoot-offs

All America trapshooter Brad Heath of Kattelville, shooting for the Corning Fish & Game Club, was the only shooter to break all 50 birds Sunday, making him high gun at the Finger Lakes Area Trap League’s Shoot-Off championships at Dryden.

Heath was named to the ATA’s 2018 All American second team, his fifth All America honor in the last seven years.

Ladies season champion Tammy Wildenstein of Corning broke 49 in the AAA Class, as did Newfield’s Chuck Smith and Greene’s Vince Guglielmo, who came out of retirement this year to travel to Corning’s FLAT League sessions with his buddy Heath.

Josh Davis and C.J. Smiley both broke 49 to lead Class AA while Chuck Wildenstein and Jim Humble led Class A shooters with 47s. Maria Peck won Class B with a 49. Chris Onofre was the Class C winner with a 44 and Class D saw MacKenzie Coyle and Dale Fayerweather each break 40 birds.

Norwich man to Hall of Fame

Longtime Chenango County outdoors advocate Ron Meeks of Norwich will be one of 11 inductees to the New York State Outdoors Hall of Fame at the annual banquet April 28 in Canastota.

Meeks is well known for his involvement in youth events including the Adirondack-Catskill chapter of Safari Club International, organizing events as well as fundraising efforts to send youth to camps.

As president and longtime member of the Rockland Rod & Gun Club, he was instrumental in their popular Youth Day, which introduced many youngsters to a wide variety of outdoor interests and skills.

The inductees’ plaques will be displayed at the NYSOHOF Museum in Vail Mills.

The induction banquet will be held at Theodores Restaurant (formerly the Rusty Rail) in Canastota. Reservations must be made by April 21 by calling 315-363-3896 or 315- 829-3588 or by e-mail at leomaloney@hotmail.com or sfcf@tds.net.

Trout stockings postponed

For those of you who keep track of such things, be advised that the Bath Hatchery’s trout stockings of Cayuta Creek on March 20 and March 21, as well as the stocking of Wyncoop Creek on March 21 were cancelled because of dangerous conditions.

Accessibility to the creek is virtually impossible because of heavy snow pack.

The Creeks will now not be stocked prior to the season opener but rather April 4 for Cayuta Creek in Schuyler County and April 5 for Cayuta Creek and Wyncoop Creek in Chemung County.

The hatchery was able to stock 22 other sites in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties this week with brown trout.

The schedule will likely change, but next week brown trout stockings are scheduled for Tompkins, Tioga, and Broome Counties before moving to Cayuga, Livingston and Steuben Counties on Thursday and Friday. Chenango Lake at Chenango Valley State Park is also scheduled for stocking on March 31.

Save the conservation fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund was created by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s, providing financial support for protecting and preserving millions of acres of public lands; purchasing new lands, wildlife conservation, historic military battlefield preservation, stewardship of private lands, and a wide array of outdoor recreational opportunities.

The LWCF also contributes matching grants to state and tribal governments which add more public access opportunities and improvements to ecosystems.

And the good news is that it doesn’t cost American taxpayers anything, being funded primarily through offshore oil royalties.

But while it is budgeted at $900 million per year, it’s been fully funded only twice in 50 years since money is commonly redirected by Congress into other projects.

The current federal budget proposal includes an 84 cut to the fund. And now the Land and Water Conservation Fund is in real danger of expiring altogether. If Congress does not approve the reauthorization of the LWCF, the program will be ended on Sept. 30, a serious blow for hunters and fishermen.

Not only should the Land and Water Conservation Fund be reauthorized, it should be fully funded. Much of our hunting and fishing heritage was possible because of the program and our future depends on it.

Saving the fund will require action the part of hunters and anglers, supporting organizations like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and contacting representatives and senators to voice support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Henderson’s outdoors columns appear in the Press & Sun-Bulletin and Ithaca Journal on Thursdays. If you have a comment or data pertinent to the columns, send it directly to Henderson Outdoors, 202 Prospect Street, Endicott NY 13760 or e-mail it to dddhender@aol.com.